Does the Bible Really Say That?

Having run around in church circles for many years, I have heard my fair share of sayings that were credited as being in the Bible.  I personally quoted them with such conviction of spirit that to have doubted me would have seemed on par with doubting if the sun would rise or the stars would shine.  And yet, I was wrong.  Perhaps you, like me, have had this experience.  For example:

“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”  Now, all of us who love our cleaning products, disinfectants, and antibacterial lotions would swear this is in the Bible, perhaps somewhere in the book of Sanctimonious.  Sadly though, it is not.  But rest assured, God is a huge fan of cleaning!  I like the fact that He shares our desire to sparkle and shine. But the kind of cleansing He’s interested in involves that which is within us. And, no matter how shiny and germ-free our outsides may be, we can’t scrub hard enough, deep enough, nor long enough to remove the stain of a sin-cursed heart.  Praise God, though; He alone is able and willing to cleanse us of all our sin, and wash us white as snow through the perfect, priceless blood of Christ!  So while you won’t find the aforementioned phrase in Scripture, you will find these: "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5); "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9); and, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Ps 51:10).  Clorox has nothing on God!

 “Money is the root of all evil.”  This phrase, while sounding exactly like something Scripture might say, is in fact, false.  Money, like alcohol, is not inherently evil.  It isn’t good or bad – it is morally neutral.  What causes the evil according to the Scriptures is not money, but the love of money.  God is not opposed to wealth and in fact there are examples of wealthy individuals from the Bible like Job, Joseph, and Solomon. Others whose names are not recorded in Scripture used their wealth to help the fledgling church grow and support those who were taking the Gospel beyond Jerusalem.  In fact, here is the section of Scripture from which this phrase is probably taken: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (I Tim 6:6-10)  The love of money (or, greed and discontentment) is the root behind all sorts of evil.  Our God is generous, He owns it all and allows us to enjoy what He has entrusted to our care.  Let’s be godly with contentment, and thank Him that we can live free from an unhealthy pursuit of wealth. 

“God helps those who help themselves.”  The implication of this phrase is that we must first help ourselves in order for God to take action.  The onus is on us to some degree.  Now, this is a tricky one I’ll admit.  I am a huge proponent of people taking responsibility for themselves and doing what they know to do as instructed by God.  As an exhorter, I believe God gave us His Word because He intends for us to obey it.  What’s more, in the Old Testament, the Law was based upon a system of “obedience equals blessing and disobedience equals cursing.” But, I also believe that we are hopelessly broken, and as a result we lean away from God.  Scripture states “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Rom 3:10-12) If God only helped those who helped themselves, then no one would ever be helped because no one would make a move toward God on their own.  The great news is, “But God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8).  What’s more, I believe God is kind and merciful, and that He rescues and delivers us time and time again – not on the merit of our behavior or obedience, but because He is infinitely good and gracious – and as such He cannot help but to be liberal in His generosity and assistance.  God has always been the initiator with fallen humanity – from calling out to a cowering Adam in Eden, sending Christ into a world that would reject and kill Him, and even today as He allows us to be His vessels filled with His Spirit proclaiming a message of hope and salvation.   

So ladies, as you can see, being lovers of God’s Word helps us recognize when we hear things like the phrases above to know if it’s really from Scripture.  I will close with this:  When people are trained to recognize counterfeit money, they do not study the counterfeit.  Rather, they spend all their time studying real money.  That way, when a counterfeit hits their eyes, they know it instantly because they know the real thing so well.  Let’s “train” with full and happy hearts as women who are dearly loved by our Father who has provided us with such a wonderful and rich Manual!  

My next verse if the continuation of Psalm 93:3-5 (NIV)

The seas have lifted up Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty. Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.